I think there's some confusion about the term 'before
the start'.

The point that was being made was that under certain
circumstances it might be advantageous to make a start
(after the task is opened), fly some sequence of legal
turnpoints, return and fly through the finish cylinder
and the go out and fly some more to accumulate more
speed/distance.

Under a MAT this looks just like any other flight that
happens to include the finish point as a legal turnpoint,
at least from a scoring perspective. It is debatable
as to whether this would ever be something you would
plan to do ahead of time given all the operational
constraints, landout risks, etc. There was also a debate
as to whether calling '4 miles' and 'finish' necessarily
makes null and void any subsequent flying (I say no
- you can keep flying legally).

Under a TAT, this would only appear to make sense if
the whether is very unpredictable, you are well under
time AND it you are able to stay aloft near the finish.
I would think the final turn area would need to be
pretty close to home as well. In this case you are
going back out either to finish off a turn area you
missed or go deeper into the last one under improved
WX conditions. Seems legal to me - but may not be profitable
very often.

I can't think of an AST task circumstance where this
makes any sense, since the distance and turnpoints
are pre-determined.

9B

At 17:18 05 September 2004, Tomnkeylargo wrote:

In your post you repeatedly say what Winscore can and
can't do and what
Winscore requires of a flight trace. Winscore is one
tool used by a scorer
to see if a US contest flight conforms to the published
US rules. 'Winscore
will land you out' if the rules specify a landout in
such a situation.
'Winscore checks' was is required to be checked by
the US rules. Any
deviation in Winscore's behavior from the US rules
should be immediately
reported to me as a program problem.


Yes, Guy, I assumed we are talking about WinScore being
used at US contests.
This topic started from the bagging of turnpoints before
the start. Current US
contest rules do not permit bagging of turnpoints before
the start. to then be
used whenever a contestant wishes to slip them in.
I was speaking of how
generally Winscore works, and of course it must be
used by a qualified scorer
and CD, under US rules, when used in the U.S.A. I
believe that when used in
this way, Winscore does what it is designed to do.
My responce to this thead
came from the idea that contestants were thinking of
a way to get around the
rules for a unfair advantage. I believe that we, the
contestants, all want a
''level playing field'' and this is what is given us
by the US contest rules.
Our US contest board, along with you, have worked very
hard to give us what we
have today. A good progam which has 'checks' and 'balances'
for our racing
needs. I do not know everything Winscore can and
cann't do, and as you know,
earlier this year I spoke with you about a start problem
seen by a contest
scorer and contest manager. I have been told that this
problem now has been
corrected. That's great and I thank you for your help.
At the contests I have
been at over the last few years, most scorers, when
their time permits, are
glad to show you how they perform their work. Most
CD's are willing to speak
with you over the rules when their workload does permit.
As new contestants are
needed for our sport to grow, I suggest to them that
when they do go to
contests, they speak with their mentors, or contest
officals to 'clear their
thoughts' on the US rules, so all of us can have a
'level playing field'. #
711.